The defeat means the Cougars (3-6, 1-5) have to win their three final games to become bowl-eligible. They won six games last year but stayed home.

Intersecting UW, WSU

Saturday marked the third time this season that the Huskies and Cougars were playing within 40 miles of each other on the same day.

On Sept. 8, the Cougars played San Diego State at Qwest Field and the Huskies were at Husky Stadium playing Boise State.

On Sept. 22, the Huskies played UCLA in the Rose Bowl and the Cougars were at USC.

On Saturday, the Cougars were at California, and the Huskies were at Stanford.

Notes

• Cal WR Lavelle Hawkins, on the Bears’ victory after three consecutive defeats: “I’m tired of being sad. I’m tired of talking with y’all [media members] with my head down but now my head’s up. I can smile and joke. It feels good.”

• Xavier Hicks‘ interception for WSU was the safety’s first of his career and the first by a Cougar in the past three games. But Hicks whiffed on another possible pick in the second quarter on a throw by Nate Longshore at about the WSU 10 that would have killed a drive that netted Cal a field goal.

• Cougars receiver Charles Dillon was stripped of two catches that would have put the Cougars in better position. Late in the first half, Alex Brink lofted a ball that Dillon touched but couldn’t bring in at the Cal 5, and when it bounced off safety Bernard Hicks, cornerback Syd Thompson returned it 38 yards. In the second half, Dillon couldn’t bring in a would-be TD pass from Brink on a deep post route.

• Former Cougars defensive end Mkristo Bruce, now a member of the Oakland Raiders practice squad, dropped by the team hotel Friday night to say hello to coaches and former teammates.

• Kickoff for the Cougars’ home game against Stanford this Saturday will be at 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on FSN. No kickoff time has been set for the Nov. 17 home game against Oregon State but is expected Monday. Kickoff time for the Nov. 24 Apple Cup hasn’t been set.

• Two WSU reserve defensive linemen, Toby Turpin and Asly Jean-Jacques, who recently completed three-week suspensions, weren’t on the travel squad. They had rejoined the team Monday. The violated team rules.

• Washington State coach Bill Doba is a believer in the power of byes. He noted this past week that USC and Oregon pounded the Cougars after byes and that the Cougars beat UCLA 27-7 after a bye.

• After last week’s win over UCLA, Doba picked up his cellphone and got a surprise. A drywall construction worker who had worked on the coach’s vacation house in Michigan had text-messaged him suggesting plays to use against the Bruins.

• Cal linebacker Anthony Felder, who entered the game No. 2 in the Pac-10 in tackles with 90 (45 solo), isn’t the only O’Dea High School grad helping the Bears. Redshirt freshman cornerback Brandon Jones is playing on special teams.

• Cal was 15-41 in the five seasons before Jeff Tedford was hired. He is in his sixth season at Cal, and his record entering Saturday was 48-23.